Vault doors for banks and business institutions



Nov. 20, 1956 c. u. DEATON VAULT DOORS FOR BANKS AND BUSINESS INSTITUTIONS Filed March 19, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2..

INVENTOR.

CHARLES U. DEATGN BY Nov. 20, 1956 c. u. DEATON 2,771,042

VAULT DOORS FOR BANKS AND BUSINESS INSTITUTIONS Filed March 19, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

CHARLES U. DE-AToN United States Patent'O VAULT DOORS FOR BANKS AND BUSINESS INSTITUTIONS Charles U. Deaton, Crestwood, Mo., assignor to Diebold, Incorporated, Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March 19, 1953, Serial No."343,368

8 Claims. c1. 109-64) This invention relates in general to certain new and useful improvements in vault doors for banks and business institutions. 7 p p i 7 At the present time, banks and business institutions commonly employ large vaults in which money, valuables, records, and locked safe deposit boxes are placed for safekeeping. The vaults of this type are ordinarily quite large and during the day-time employees and other users walk in and out of the vault freely through the doorways thereto. Such vaults are provided with heavy massive steel doors which can be swung into closurewis'e position across the doorway and locked by combination-controlled locking means, carefully constructed to be burglar-proof, tamper-proof, and fire-proof. These doorways and door structures, generally, are made of alloy steel designed to resist the attack of drills, acetylene torches, and various other implements used by criminals in endeavoring to break into the closed safe or vault and, accordingly, are veryheavy and cumbersome. Consequently, it is necessary to provide such doors with relatively rugged hinge structures and the doors, as such, are'usually approximately as thick as the walls of the vault itself and are f-requentlym-arginally bevelled to provide greater secur ity when closed. All of these structural and safety problems make it necessary to provide a relatively wide arc of SWing'fOI' the vault door, thereby consuming an unnecessarily large amount of floor space in front of the doorway which must be left free and unencumbered. Furthermore, conventional vault door hinges are pivoted at a relatively great distance from the center of gravity of the heavy mass or bulk of the door, so that when it is necessary to swing the door closed or swing it open, a greatamount of manual force and elfort is required to start the door in motion and, once the door is in motion, a similarly large amount of effort is required to stop it when it reaches or nears the limit of its travel and such energy must be exerted, because otherwise the door will slam shut with tremendous force, making a great deal of noise and'even sometimes damaging the delicate mechanism of the cornbination. q Y

Finally, most vault doors 'of the large heavy type are found in banks and, as is particularly true of safety deposit departments, the public can see the vault door when it is open. Since all vault doors presently in use SWing open about a laterally positioned hinged point, the interior or back face of the door swings out and is exposed to view when the door is open. Consequently, it is necessary for manufacturers of vault doors to expend a considerable amount of time and expense in polishing the various parts of the vault door mechanism which are exposed on the rear or inside face of the door, so that, when the door is swung open and such parts come into view, the appearance of the structure will be attractive in the sense that it presents a finished and highly polishedappearance. All of the gears which constitute the components of the time loclc combination and detentsetting mechanism inustbe ice highly polished and machined to present a desirable appearance.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a vault door which is mounted on unique and novel hinge means, so that the door may be swung into and out of closed position with unusual case and a minimum of manual effort.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a vault door which is so mounted that it will swing open through an arc of movement, requiring much less floor space and clearance than conventional doors.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a vault door which is uniquely mounted for swinging movement in such a manner that the face of the door, which is presented outwardly when the door is closed, will at all times remain in outwardly presented position as the door is being swung open and as it reaches its fully opened position, so that only the finished outer face of the door is ever exposed to public view.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement, and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings (two sheets) Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a vault doorway having a vault door constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention and showing the vault door in closed position;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a vault doorwayhaving a vault door constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention and showing the vaultdoor in fully opened position;

Figures 3, 4, and 5 are fragmentary sectional views taken along lines 33, 44, and 5-5, respectively, of Figure l;

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view of the vault wall showing the vault door of the present invention in fully opened position;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary front elevational view of a vault wall having a modified form of vault door constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention; and

Figures 8, 9, and 10 are fragmentary horizontal sectional views of the vault wall and vault door construction of Figure 7, respectively showing the vault door in fully closed, partially opened, and fully opened positions.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings, which illustrate practical embodiments of the present invention, A designates a conventional vault wall of heavy reinforced steel, concrete and masonry construction having a door opening 1 bounded or framed by a conventional steel frame 2 having a series of lateral recesses 3 for conventionally receiving the sliding bolts 4. Inasmuch as the locking mechanism of the safe which actuates the bolts 4 and operatively connects them with the combination are conventional and do not constitute a part of the present invention, such mechanism is not specifically shown or described in detail herein, it being merely suflicient to say that the vault door 5 is locked thereby when in closed position and contains a conventional combination knob 6 by which the bolts 4 may be locked in place when the vault door 5 is closed. The vault door 5 is also provided with a conventional lock operating handle 7 by which the bolts 4 are slid into and out of locked position when the combination 6 is off.

Bolted or otherwise suitably mounted upon the rear or inwardly presented face 8 of the vault door 5 is a hingebracket 9 having two laterally spaced vertical hinge pins 10, 11, and similarly mounted upon the interior face of 3 i the vault wall A, adjacent to the vertical margin of the door opening 1, is a second hinge-bracket 12 also having laterally spaced vertical hinge pins 13, 14. Swingably mounted at its opposite ends upon and extendingtransvers'ely between the hinge pius'10, 13, is a large hinge link 15 having somewhat bshaped horizontalc'rossfse'ctionsconforming to the horizontal cross-section of the edge of the vault door' and wall, as shown in Figure 6.

Similarly'mounted at its opposite ends and extending against the contour of the edge of the doorway'l, as

shown in Figure 6. It should be noted in this connection that the main hinge plate 16 is of relatively long heavy construction and supports the entire weight of the doorS, the link '15 serving merely as astabilizing m'echanism tomaintain the door parallel to the plane of the door opening throughout all positions of swinging movement, substantially as shown in'Figures 4, 5, and 6.

When the vault is closed, the vault door 5 will be positioned in the Opening, substantially as shown in Figure 1, with the combination 6 and lock operating handle 7 in forwardly presented position. The vault door '5 is preferably provided with a conventional pull handle 17, which is located'upon the forward face of the vault door 5 preferably in line with the hinge pin 11. When the vault door 5 is: unlocked, it may be pulled straightoutwardlyby grasping the handle 17 and, as outward pulling movement is continued, will swing clear ofthe door opening 1 and move laterally across and in front ofthe outwardly presented face of the vault wall A along a fiat arc of comparatively short radius, as shown in [dotted lines in Figu'res4 and 6, and will assume a position con'i pletelyto one side of the door opening flatwise against the outer face of the vault wall A, as shown in Figure 6. When it is necessary to close the vault, thevault door 5 may 'be swung backinto initial position'by reversing this sequence ,ofmovements.

If desired, it is possible to provide a modified form of vault door 5, which is substantially similar inall re spects to the previously described vault door 5, having hinge-brackets 9' 12, hinge pins 10', 11', 13, 14, a

hinge link 15, and a hinge plate 16', all substantially similar to the corresponding elements of the previously described vault door 5. The main hinge plate 16',ho'w-' ever, is recessed, as at 18, and is provided with a' toothforming laterally projecting tongue 19 for optional en} gagement within thethreads of a short relativelyheavy, worm 20 pinned upon the inner end of a handle shaft 21 journalled in and extending through the vaultdoor 5 andprovided on its external end witha handle 22. As will be seen in Figure 7, the handle 22 preferablyirieludes three radial spokes 23 arranged'at 120 intervals around its periphery, one of the spokes 23 being "adapted to assume a downwardly extending vertical position'wh'eri the in-leading end of the worm 20 is set to clear the tongue 19. Thus, when thevault doors. is op n; the

sitioned so that it will readily receive the tongue 19 by positioning the handle 22 in the manner above described.

Thereupon, the handle 22 may be rotated so as to draw the tongue 19 down into the worm, pullingthe vault "doon closed position, as shown in 5"tightly into fully seated Figure 8.:

When the vault door 5' is opened, the handle 22 is rotated in the reverse direction, swinging the vault door outwardly through an initial forward portion of its move, ment and as the tongue 19 becomes disengaged from the,

4 worm 20, the vault door 5 is free to be manually swung into fully opened position.

The worm 20 and tongue 19 make it possible to pull the vault door 5' into and out of tightly sealed position without the use of complicated camming mechanisms commonly found at the present time in conventional vault door structures.

Itshould bev understood that changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the vault door may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

:1. A safety and protective doorway for vaults, safes, and the like comprising a wall having exterior and in terior faces and a door-opening therein, the front and rear peripheral margins of the door-opening lying in parallel planes, a substantially flat door sized and shaped for snug-fitting closure-forming engagement within the door-opening, said door havingan interior and an exterior face; a'linkpivotally secured at one end to the interior face of the door and pivotally secured at its other end to the interior face of the wall whereby the door can be swung into'ian'd out of closure-forming position, said link integrally comprising a long leg and a short leg trans,- vers' ely connectedin spaced parallel relationship by an intermediate member, said link being so shaped as to fit cdniorrnably around'the edges of the doorway when the doon'is open, another link also shaped so as to fit conformably aroundthe edges of the doorway when the door is open and being pivotally connected at its ends respectively to the interior faces of the door and wall atpoints which are laterally spaced in relation to the hinge 'pointsof the first-named link to hold thedoor substantiallyf parallel to its initial position throughout its arc'of swin'gpoiie of said links being providedlwith a projecting tooth, a shaft rotatablymounted ,in the door, andpr'ojecting at its rear end from the interior face of the door adjacent tosaid, projecting tooth, and means rigidly mounted on the projecting end of the shaft for optionally engaging the tooth as the door approaches closed'position whereby'to' draw the-door tightly into suchclosed positioh. i

ZLA safety and protective doorway for vaults, safes and'thelike comprising a wall having exterior and, interior faces andja door-opening therein, the front and rear peripheral margins of the dooropening lying in parallel planes, a fiat door sized and shaped for snug fittin'g closure-forming engagement within the, dooropening, said door "having an interior and an exterior face, alinhpivotallysecured at one end to the interior face of the door and pivotally secured at its other end to the interior face'of the waltwhereby the door can be swung into and out of closure-forining position, said link integrally comprising a long leg and 'a short leg transversely connected in spaced parallelrelationship by an intermediate member, 'saidlink being so shaped as to fit conformably around the edges of the doorway when the door is open, another link also shaped so as to fit conformably aroundthe edges of the doorway when the door is open and being pivotally connected at its ends respectively to the interior faces of the door and wall at points which are laterallyspaced in relation to the hinge pointsof the first-named link to hold the door substantially-parallel to its initial position throughout its arc of swing; one of said links being provided with a projecting tooth, a shaft rotatably mounted in the door and projectin-ghat its rear end from the interior face of the door and protective, doorway for vaults, safes,

and the like comprising a wall having exterior and interior faces and a door-opening therein, the front and rear peripheral margins of the door-opening lying in parallel planes, a flat door sized and shaped for snugfitting closure-forming engagement within the dooropening, said door having .an interior and \an exterior face, a link pivotally secured :at one end to the interior face of the door and pivotally secured at its other end to the interior face of the 'wall whereby the door can be swung into and out of closure-forming position, said link integrally comprising a long leg and a short leg transversely connected in spaced parallel relationship by an intermediate member, said link being so shaped as to fit conformably around the edges of the doorway when the door is open, another link also shaped so as to fit conformably around the edges of the doorway when the door is open and being pivotally connected at its ends respectively to the interior faces of the door and wall at points which are laterally spaced in relation to the hinge points of the first-named link to hold the door substantially parallel to its initial position throughout its arc of swing, one of said links being provided with a projecting tooth, a shaft rotatably mounted in the door and projecting at its rear end from the interior face of the door adjacent to said projecting tooth, and a worm rigidly mounted on the projecting end of the shaft for optionally engaging the tooth as the door approaches closed position whereby to draw the door tightly into such closed position.

4. A safety and protective doorway for vaults, safes, and the like comprising a wall having exterior and interior faces and a dooreopening therein, the front and rear peripheral margins of the door-opening lying in parallel planes, a flat door sized and shaped for snugfitting closure-forming engagement within the dooropening, said door having an interior and an exterior face, a link pivotally secured at one end to the interior face of the door and pivotally secured at its other end to the interior face of the wall whereby the door can be swung into and out of closure forming position, said link integrally comprising a long leg and a short leg transversely connected in spaced parallel relationship by an intermediate member, said link being so shaped as to fit conformably around the edges of the doorway when the door is open, another link also shaped so as to fit conformably around the edges of the doorway when the door is open and being pivotally connected at its ends respectively to the interior faces of the door and wall at points which are laterally spaced in relation to the hinge points of the first-named link to hold the door substantially parallel to its initial position throughout its arc of swing, one of said links being provided with a projecting tooth, a shaft rotatably mounted in the door and projecting at its rear end from the interior face of the door adjacent to said projecting tooth, and an open-ended worm rigidly mounted on the projecting "end of the shaft for optionally engaging the tooth as the door approaches closed position whereby to draw the door tightly into such closed position.

5. A safety and protective doorway for vaults, safes, and the like comprising a wall having exterior and interior faces and a door-opening therein, the front and rear peripheral margins of the door-opening lying in parallel planes, a flat door sized and shaped for snugfit-ting closure-forming engagement within the dooropening, said door having an interior and anexterior face, a link pivotally secured at one end to the interior face of the door and pivotally secured at its other end to the interior face of the wall whereby the door can be swung into and out of closure-forming position, said link integrally comprising a long leg and a short leg transversely connected in spaced parallel relationship by an intermediate member, said link being so shaped as to fit conformably around the edges of the doorway when the door is open, another also shaped so as to lit conformably around'the edges of the doorway when the door is open and being pivotally connected at its ends respectively to the interior faces of the door and wall at points which are laterally spaced in relation to the hinge points of the first-narned link to hold the door substantially parallel to its initial posit-ion throughout its arc of swing, one of said links being provided with .a projecting tooth which swings along an arc concentric with its pivot point on the door, a shaft rotatably mounted in and extending through the door, and a worm [fixed upon the inner end of the shaft and having an inwardly presented open-ended thread, the open end of which lies in the path of arcuate movement of the tooth as the link with which it is associated pivots during opening and closing movement of the door for optionally engaging the tooth as the door approaches closed position so that the door can be drawn tightly into such closed position by rotation of the shaft.

6. A safety and protective doorway for vaults, safes, and the like comprising a wall of substantial thickness having exterior and interior faces and a door-opening, said door-opening having at least one substantially vertical margin, the front and rear peripheral margins of the door-opening lying in parallel planes so that the door-opening is bounded by an inter-wall face of substantial width, said exterior, interior, and inter-wall faces conjointly conforming to a selected horizontal crosssectional con-tour along said vertical margin of the dooropening, a door sized and shaped for snug-fitting closureforming engagement within the door-opening, said door having an interior and an exterior face, a first substantially L-shaped link having a long leg and a short leg connected by a transverse bight and conforming in shape to the horizontal cross-sectional contour of the dooropening, said link being pivotally secured at one end to the interior face of the door and pivotally secured at its other end to the interior face of the Wall whereby the door can be swung into and out of closure-forming position, and a second L-shaped link having a long leg and a short leg connected by a transverse bight and conforming in shape to the horizontal cross-sectional contour of the door-opening, the long and short legs of said second link being respectively longer than the long and short legs of the first link, said second link also being pivotally connected at its ends respectively to the interior faces of the door and wall at points which are laterally spaced in relation to the hinge points of the first-named link, said hinge points .all lying in a single plane which is parallel to the interior faces of the wall and door when the door is in closed position to hold the door substantially parallel to its initial position throughout its arc of swing.

7. A safety and protective doorway for vaults, safes, and the like comprising a wall of substantial thickness having exterior and interior faces and a door-opening, said door-opening having at least one substantially vertical margin, the front and rear peripheral margins of the door-opening lying in parallel planes so that the dooropening is bounded by an inter-wall face of substantial width, said exterior, interior, and inter-wall faces conjointly conforming to a selected horizontal cross-sectional contour along said vertical margin of the door-opening, a door sized and shaped for snug-fitting closure-forming engagement within the door-opening, said door having an interior and an exterior face, a first link having a long and a short leg connected by a transverse bight and being pivotally secured at one end to the interior face of the door and pivotally secured at its other end to the interior face of the wall whereby the door can be swung into and out of closure-forming position, said link having a profile geometrically conformable to the transverse cross-sec tional shape of the wall across the edge of the doorway, and a second link having a long leg and a short leg connected by a transverse bight, the long and short legs of said second link being respectively longer than the corresponding, legsofi the first link, said secondlink being also geometrically conformable tothe transverse crosssectional shapeof thevwallxacross the edge of. the doorway andbeing .pivotally connected at its ends respectively to the interior faces of the door and wall at points which are laterally and vertically spaced in relation to the hinge pointsofwthe first-named link, the hinge points of the two links on theinterior face of the wall being at all times located in ausingle planewhich is parallel to such interionface of thewall, the hinge points on the door similarly lying in. a single plane which is at all times parallel to the interior face of the doorwhereby to hold the, door substantially parallel to its initial position throughout its arc of swingrand the first and second links are nested :in close-fitting relationship around the interior wallface of: the door-openingtandxin vertically aligne position with respectto each other. i i i 8. A safety and protective doorway for vaults, safes, andtthe like comprising a Wall of substantial thickness haviugexterior and interior faces; and a door-opening, said door-opening having at least one substantially vertical margin, the front and rear peripheral margins of the dooropening lying in parallel planes. so that the door-opening isrboundedby an inter-wall face oflsubstantial width, said exterior, interior, and inter-Wall faces conjointly conformingtto ,a selected horizontalacross-sectional contour along said'vertical margin of the door-opening, a door sized and shaped for snugfitting closure-forming engagement within the door-opening, said ldOOI' havingan interior and an exteriorface, a first link pivotally secured at one end to the, interior face of the door and pivotally secured at its other end to the interior face, of the Wall whereby the door can be swung into and out of-closure-forming position, said link integrally comprising a long leg and a short leg transversely connected in spacedparallel relationship by an intermediate member, saidli nk being so shaped as to fit conformably around'the edgesofthe-doorwaywhen the door is open, and a second link also shaped so as to fit conformably around the edges of the doorway when the door is open and including a lo'ng leg and a short leg transversely connected in space-parallel relationship by an intermediate member, the long and short legs of said second link being respectively longer'than thecorrespond ing legs of'the first link, said second link also being piv0tally connected at its ends'respectiv'ely to the interior faces of the door andvvallat points which are laterally and vertically spaced in relation'to the hinge points of the first named link so that when the dooris closed,the first'and' second links will be one above theother and thelong leg of the second link will cross the bight of the-first link; whereby to hold=the door substantially parallel to its initial position throughout its arc of swing, the hinge points on the doorbeing co-planar withrespect to each other and the hinge points on the wall similarly being coplanar with respect to eachother.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES" PATENTS Great Britain Au 27, 1 9,36 

